Growing demand for AI services and data centres prompts discussions of a direct Vietnam-Singapore connection
Keppel, a Singaporean asset manager, and Sovico Group, a Vietnamese conglomerate, are in discussions about launching a new undersea fiber-optic cable. This project aims to boost the region’s growing data centre industry, with South-East Asian countries seeking to expand their networks to meet the booming demand driven by AI services and data centres.
Direct Connection Under Discussion
One of the proposals on the table is to establish a direct cable linking Vietnam with Singapore, with an estimated cost of US$150 million. However, these talks are still ongoing, and no final agreement has been reached yet.
The current discussions also involve Keppel exploring a more ambitious plan, where a consortium of investors would be involved in a longer cable running from Singapore to Japan, with connections to other countries along the route.
This project comes amid the backdrop of the Sino-American tech war, where both the US and China are competing for contracts to control critical internet infrastructure, including undersea cables that carry sensitive data.
